Decorative coverings, such as floor coverings, include linoleum sheets. Linoleum sheets are typically affixed onto a sub-flooring using an adhesive. When the sheets are joined, a seam or joint is formed. Such seam is often unsightly and prone to collecting dirt, thus it is often desirable to seal the seam using various methods.
When abutting flooring sheets are seamed together and glued in place, the seam often degrades over time as the seam is exposed to traffic, moisture, cleaning chemicals, and dirt. Contamination eventually penetrates the seam and degrades the adhesive holding the floor sheets to the floor at the seam. When the adhesive degrades, the floor sheet will lift from the floor at the seam, lending the seam an unsightly puckered appearance and making the seam more vulnerable to further damage. In order to repair the damaged portion of the seam, it is usually necessary to carefully cut out and replace it with a fresh patch of matching material. The patch must match the removed portion's pattern and shape perfectly, or the repair will be visible.
Linoleum has been seamed by laying the vertical side edges of adjacent layers in close abutment, folding back the adjacent marginal portions of the floor covering layers to expose the sub-floor, applying an epoxy adhesive to the sub-floor along the line of abutment using a spatula-like tool called a “spread,” and then bringing the marginal portions back down onto the sub-floor, and hand-rolling the seam to complete the operation.
The epoxy was applied to the sub-floor in a band that is several thicknesses of the flooring material wide on each side of the seam, and the flooring material is then pressed onto the sub-floor. Some of the epoxy is forced into the seam to bond the flooring materials together. The seam bond between the epoxy and the flooring materials, however, is not waterproof. The bond between the epoxy and the flooring material is relatively weak because the epoxy is much stiffer than the flooring material. The bond between the two often breaks under traffic.
Current recommended practice for installing linoleum in commercial applications involves “heat welding” the seams and, for residential applications, linoleum seams are merely butted together.
Thus, what is needed is a method for joining seams formed by abutting edges of adjacent linoleum sheets that will not degrade, appear substantially visually seamless and form a substantially gap free seam between the adjacent linoleum sheets.